Switch-mounting



H." L. VAN VALKENB URG.

SWITCH MOUNTING. APPLICATION FVILIED APR. 2-6, 1920.

PatentedSept. 27,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0 Q 1 0 m I 6 4 Q 1 H. L. VAN VALKENBUHG. SWITCH MOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, I920.

PatentedSept. 27, 1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

H. L. VAN VALKENBURG.

SWITCH MOUNTING.

. APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1920- 1,391,809. PatentedSep 27,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TRIAL CONTROLLERCOMPANY, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SWITCH-MOUNTING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pate ted Sept. 27, 1921. Original applicatlonixfiled July 25, 1 918, Serial No. 246,635. lDivided and thisappliation filed April as, 1920. Serial No. 376,473.

To all whom it my concern:

Be it known that I, HnnMoN L. VANVAL- KENBURG, a citizen of the United States, re-

following is a specification.

My invention'relates to switch mountings and is especially useful inconnection with compensators employed as motor starters. The construction illustrated is the same as shown in my copending application filed' July 25, 1918, Serial -No. 246,635 of which my presentapplication is a division. Attention is also called to another divisional application for system of motor control, filed on the 14th day of April, 1920, Serial No. 37 3,771.- e The object of my present invention is to provide oil immersedswitches so mounted that the contacts may be liftedout of the oil for inspection or repairs without demountingthem and without disconnecting them from the supply conductors. Another object is to provide a construction by'whicls: the switch contacts may be swung up out of the oil, part of the switch carrylng frame .remaining pivotally connected to and in place in the inclosing casing. In the par.-

ticular design shown the switches and switch mountings form part of a hand operated compensator which I will describe so far as may be necessary for' a complete lmderstanding of the invention.

I obtain my objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which-- v I Figure 1 is a front elevation of the complete apparatus taken on the line 1-1, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side elevation on the line 22, Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the cover removed.

Fig 4L is a plan section approximately on the. line 44, Fig. 2.

- Fig. 5 is aside elevation similar to Fig.

2, showing the switch parts-swung up out of the oil tank for purposes of inspection.

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 5 but omits the switch parts for the purpose of better showing the supporting frame in its two positions relatively to the oil tank.

. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the lock for holding the pivoted frame down in actlve posltion with the switch contact immersed'in the oil.

F ig. 8 is a perspective showing the switch operatmg. mechanism. In this figure the parts are separated sidewise, and some of the shafts and pins extended to better reveal the construction and principle of operation. In this sense the figure is diagrammatic, for in the actual structure the mechanism is more compact.

' Fig. 9 is aside View of a portion of the outer casing showing the indicating mechanism whereby the operator may determine without opening the casing whether the running switch is open or closed.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several v' ws.

In the particu ar form shown, the casing 1 has a cover (not-shown) and in the lower part contains the autotransformer, and the overload relays l, 5. An oil tank 6 is fastened in the casing above the transformer and contains the oil in which the switches are immersed. A rock shaft 8 is mounted horizontally in the casing, extending from side to side thereof, just above the top of.

the tank. This rock shaft serves a dual purpose one of which is to operate the switches as will be hereinafter explained. The second function which is more inti-.

mately connected with thepresent invention is to form a pivot bearing for the switch contacts and their operating and sup porting elements. According to this particular design of switch mountingthere are four plates 16 loosely mounted upon it.

These are rigidly fastened together by transverse bars 17 v18 which are squared so as -to be non-rotatable relatively to the plates.

These plates and bars constitute a frame pivotally supported on the rock shaft 8,

thereby permitting the frame to be swung shown in perspective in Fig. 7. Locks 1" are pivoted to the inside of the side walls as shown in perspective in Fig. 7, and when these are down they revent the frame from beingswung up. en the locks are 1'0- I ita ted from the position shown in Fig. 7 the frame may be lifted. It is desirable to provide a handle 19 at the front'of the frame whereby it and the switches may be raised up out of the oil for inspection r renewal.

The front bar 17 carries the "stationary contacts 20 and 21 of the starting and running switches respectively. The rear bar 18 carries the stationary contacts 38' and 39 of the auxiliary switches. A shaft 25 is rotatably supported in the left plate 16 and has rigidly fastened to it the starting switch arms 26 provided at their ends with contacts 27 which engage the contacts 20. Similarly,

a shaft 30 is rotatably supported in the right pair of plates 16 and has rigidly fastened to it the running switch arms 31 provided at their ends with contacts 32 which engage the contacts2l. Shaft 30 also has rigidly fastened to it the auxiliary switch arms 34, 35

provided at their ends with contacts 36, 37

adapted to engage the stationary contacts 88, 39"fastened to bar 18. The parts are so arranged that when the arms of the running switch are in closed position the arms of theauxiliary switch are in open position and vice versa. As all the SWltCll contacts are carried by the bars or shafts 18, 25 and 30 and these in'turn are carried by the frame plates 16, 17, and the latter are pivoted upon the rotatable but otherwise stationary rock shaft 8, it is evident that the switch contacts can beswung up as a unit out of the oil. It

is not necessary to disconnect the switch contacts for the purpose, for they are connected by flexible conductors 28 to station'- ary binding posts 29 mounted inside the back wall of the casing in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and In Fig. 2 the flexible conductors'or connectors are shown approximately straight. as the switch contacts are immersed in the oil. In Fig. 5 they are shown flexed, with the switch contacts swung up out of the oil. At

the binding posts the connectors 28 are electrically connected to any suitable supply conductors 33. Thus it will be seen that the contacts are all carried in a frame which is located above the oil tank or pan and pivoted at a fixed point in such manner that the contacts may all be swung up out of the oil or lowered into it without disturbingthe electric connections to the supply conduc:

tors.

To illustrate how in this particular piece of apparatus the switches may 'all be oper ated through the agency of the shaft 8 which forms the pivotal support for the frame,-I-

will now describe the switch operating mechan'ism.- It is the same as shown and described in my said two co-pending applications, and has an operating handle 10 by which the shaft maybe rocked back and forth. A spring 11, best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 9, constantly urges the handle toward init al position shown'in said figures. One.

end of the spring overlies the-handle while the other end engages a lug 12 fastened on the outside of the casing. This lug forms a stop for limiting the backward movement of the handle, while another lug13 forms a stop for limiting the forward movement of the handle. The switch contacts together with their supportingarms and shafts, have already been described. One of these shafts,

viz., 25, is operated by a'plate 40 which is fastened to it.

A spring 41 is fastened at one end to said plate and at the other end to a stationary rod 42. This spring tends to keep the starting switch open. The closure of the starting switch is effected by means of a link 44 adapted to engage the pin-45 projecting from the side of plate 40. Said link is actuated by an arm 47. rigidly'fastened to rock shaft 8. The link and the arm are articulately-connected by a pin 46 which also performs the function of a'trip as hereinafter explained. Link '44 is longitudinally slotted to permit the operating handle to be rotated part way back to initial position while .the starting switch remains closed. An arm 48 on the plate 40 serves to limit the movement of shaft 25 andarms 2 6 and under the influence of spring 41. switch has reached closed position it'is held there by a detent50 which is pivoted at one end upon the projection 51- on plate 16. A spring 52. urges the free and of the detent upward. Said detent has a slot 53, at one end of 'which a shoulder 54 is formed.

lV-hen the pin 45 moves forward and reaches the shoulder 54.the spring 52 causes the 'shoulder'to engage the pin and hold the switch arms 31 and auxiliary switch arms 34 .and is'operated by a plate 60 which is constantly urged by a spring 61 in a'direction ,to open the switch. The lower end of the spring is attached to rod 42. An arm 64 is formed on plate 60 in position to strike the stationary bar 18 and limit the amount of rotation of shaft 30 under-the influence of spring 61. The closure of the running switch is eifected by means of a connector link 68,

having a shoulder 69 adapted to engage a pin 70 projecting from'the'side of the arm -71 which forms a part ofthe plate 60. Said cOnnectorlink is articulately connected to an arm 74 rigidly fastened to rock shaft 8.

When the starting The parts are so arranged that when the opcrating handle is rotated sufliciently forvholdout mechanism permits the connector link to act; This holdout mechanism consists of a pin 76 which, underlies acam 77 formed on the underside of the link. Pin 76 is carried by the plate 40 fastened to the 3 starting switch, and the design is such that if the starting switchis closed, the pin 76 will be out of reach of cam 77, and hence the connector link will be able to enga e the pin 70 and close the running switch. ut if the starting switch is open, the pin 76 will occupy a position where the cam 7 7 will ride upon it and will cause the connector link in its forward movement to rise sufficiently to cause the shoulder 69 to clear the and thus produce noefl'ect upon it. t will thus be seenthat the connector 68 cannot close the running switch unless the starting switch is closed.

When the running switch reaches closed 7 position it is held there by latch or detent 80 pivoted upon a pin 81 having a suitable stationary support. Said detent is overbalanced so as to tend-to assume acting position. It

7 is provided with a hook,.the front edge 85 whereof formsa cam located in position to be engaged by an anti-friction roller 86 mounted at one end of a link 87. Said link is pivotally supported by the arm 71 of the plate 60 and has a spring 88 for urging its free end downward to engage the hook. As the link moves forward in the direction to close the running switch, it becomes engaged by the hook. The means which I have provided for holding this hooked detent in acting position are electromagnetic and consist 1n the present case of a statlonary winding 90 mounted in position to attract thearmature 91 fastened to the rear endof the detent The parts are soconstructed that unless the winding is sufiiciently energized, the tension of the spring 61 will be sufiicient to disengage the links 87 from the detent and permit I the spring 61 to open the running switch.

The winding 90 and detent 80 therefore for part of an under voltaged release;

Itwi-ll be unnecessary to explain the electrical principles on which the compensator operates, as these are not directly concerned with the present invention and'are explained indetail in my aforesaid co-pending.applica-.

. tion Serial No. 246,635.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the switch contacts are immersed in oil under alloperating conditions but maybe readilyswung up out of the oil for inspection or repairs. Tins can be'accomplished without the present case is manually operated, and

is in the form of a handle 10), is mounted in fixed position on the stationary casing, while the contactsare not only movablerelatively to each other, but are movable in unison into and out of the oil and yet these contacts remain at all times in mechanical connection with ower device; and no wrenches, screw drivers or other tools need be used when the inspection is proposed. In fact, no manipulation of the power device or the mechanical connections 'between'it and ters Patent is:

1. An oil switch having an oil pan, aframe, pivoted above the pan and adapted to swing abouta fixed axis, a pair of contacts rigidly fastened to the frame, a rock shaft 7 mounted in the frame remote from but para allel to the axis of the frame pivot, and means including a rotary element having an axis concentric with the frame pivot for rocking the rock shaft and thereby causing the contacts to engage and disengage each other.

2. An oil switch having an oil pan, a main operating shaft adapted to oscillate in fixed position relatively to the pan, a frame pivoted to said shaft, a pair of contacts mounted on said frame and adapted to be swung wtih it into and out of the oil, a rock shaft mounted in said frame at adistance from running switch, an oil tank, a frame pivoted I to said tank and carrying said switches, whereby the switch contacts may be normally immersed in the oil and temporarily swung up out of the oil for inspection, and

means for opening and closing said switches,

said means including an operating handle p voted coaxially with the frame, and mechanism actuated by said handle for operating said switches individually.

4. A motor starter having a starting switch, a running switch, an oil tank, a rock shaft axially fixed relatively to said tank, a frame pivotally mounted on said shaft and carrying the switches, means actuated by said shaft for opening and closing the switches, alpdf an operating handle for rocking said s a t.

ing them, and links actuated by the rock shaft for operating said arms.

6. A motor starter having a starting switch, a running switch, an oil tank, a rock shaft axially fixed relatively to said tank, a frame pivotally mounted, on said shaft and carrying the switches, means actuatedby said shaft for 'opening and closing the switches individually, an operating handle for rocking said shaft, and a stationary detent for holdingthe running switch closed.

7 A motor starter having a starting switch, a running switch, an oil tank, a rock shaft axially fixed relatively to said tank, a

frame pivotally mounted on said shaft and carrying said switches, means actuated by said shaft for operating the switches individually, manual means for rocking said shaft, and an indicator secured to the 'running Switch and visible from a point outside the oil tank for indicating whether the running switch is'open or closed. Y 8. A motor starter having a starting switch, a running switch, an oil tank, a

manually operatedrock shaft'axially fixed relatively to said tank, a frame pivotally '1nounted on said shaft, switch shafts pivotally mounted in said" frame and having the movable contacts of the switches secured thereto, whereby therotation of said switch shafts opens and closes the switches, arms fastened to and extending from said switch shafts, links for actuating said arms, and

means operated by the rock shaft for'operating said links.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name,

HERMON'L. VAN VALKENBURG. 

